“Our
initial assessment of [Trump’s] ‘skinny budget’ puts us at over $300
million in cuts, and when we assess individual programs, we’re looking
at many more millions,” Julie Todaro, the president of the American
Library Association, tells Teen Vogue. “[This budget] cuts
across all the agencies who regularly fund our initiatives based on, in
some cases, 75 years of partnership.”

In addition to promoting
literacy and equitable education for all, libraries provide crucial
community resources like access to academic databases, ESL classes, and
computer classes for all ages. Librarians also serve as your local
experts for the questions a Google search couldn’t answer. In the era of
fake news
and digital surveillance, libraries both provide media literacy and
data privacy. Here are just a few quick ways to support your local
branches at this very moment.